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Lady Bulldogs open NCAAs with lackluster victory

Georgia 53, Belmont 36

MINNEAPOLIS - Georgia coach Andy Landers had hoped a victory Saturday in the first round of the NCAA women's tournament would provide a "cleansing" after a drubbing at the hands of Vanderbilt two weeks earlier.

The third-seeded Lady Bulldogs dispatched 14th-seeded Belmont 53-36, but Georgia's game left mud tracks all over the floor at Williams Arena that it will need to tidy up fast.

No. 13 Georgia has until Monday night, when it faces No. 24 Iowa State with a Sweet 16 trip to Dallas at stake, to find its shooting touch and someone to step up in its locker room.

"What do you make of it? I'm at a loss for words," Landers said. "When a team plays the way it's playing right now, there's no leadership. There's an absence of leadership. You don't see anybody out there rallying the troops. ... It's as simple as that."

Georgia (26-6) advanced to the NCAA second round for the fifth straight season, but it was an underwhelming showing against a team making its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

"We definitely have to step it up," said freshman forward Christy Marshall of Savannah, who led Georgia with 11 points. "We can't go into the second round playing like that."

Especially against sixth-seeded Iowa State (26-8), which drilled Washington 79-60 before a heavily partisan Cyclones crowd to advance to Monday's game that will tip-off at either 7 or 9:30 p.m. The Cyclones have won nine of their past 10 games.

"We know it's going to take a lot more energy and a lot more focus," said Georgia junior forward Tasha Humphrey, who battled foul trouble and was held to nine points.

Georgia appeared to have plenty of focus early when raced to an 11-0 lead, but after that both teams couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in "The Barn." Georgia scored its fewest points and shot its lowest percentage (33.3) ever in an NCAA tournament victory.

"Defensively, gosh, I don't know how much more we could have guarded," Belmont coach Tony Cross said. "Fifty-three points, that seems like a winning game to me."

Belmont was even worse. Its 11 field goals were just one away from the NCAA record for fewest in a tournament game and its 20.4 field-goal percentage tied for the fourth worst.

In one ugly stretch in the second half, Belmont's Tereva Moore, Shaunda Strayhorn and Amber Rockwell threw up uncontested shots that didn't find the rim or backboard.

"I thought initially to open the game that the pressure we had defensively was pretty good and remained pretty good for the most part," Landers said. "Unfortunately, so much of our energy seems to be attached to our offensive efficiency. When we're not hitting shots, we don't seem to have as much interest in doing the other things. The more we missed, the less we attacked on the defensive end."

Georgia made just 3-for-16 3-pointers. Belmont connected on just 1-for-25.

Despite a decided height advantage, Georgia was outrebounded 46-39.

"We forced them to take a bad shot, but we just didn't get the rebound," Humphrey said. "From the offensive perspective, we got open looks but we just didn't hit them."

Georgia missed seven of its first 10 shots in the second half and Belmont trimmed a 16-point lead to 34-29. But Belmont made just one field goal in the game's final 14-plus minutes.

After the game, Landers said he has asked his upperclassmen to step up as leaders.

"I've asked juniors and seniors to step up and assume some accountability for these kind of things, but they haven't," Landers said.

Said Chambers: "Really, what can you say when someone's shooting poorly? It's obvious that you know that they're trying to put the ball in the hole. They're not trying to miss. It's the other things that you maybe have to lead by example. You don't necessarily have to say anything. You have to do it, and others will follow."

Georgia could afford its lackluster play Saturday and advance. It probably won't be able to on Monday.

"People are going to have to step up and look at themselves in the mirror," Humphrey said, "and decide if we're going to play like this again or take it to the next level."